ANALYSIS OF POLL

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume VLI, Issue 3421, 18 December 1935, Page 4

ANALYSIS OF POLL

MANY MINORITY MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT ELECTION FIGURES LABOUR’S 392,317 VOTES. Figures compiled from the completed official returns for the 80' seats —76 European and four Maori —in the House of Representatives show that 852,555 valid votes were cast at the general election on November 27. No satisfactory or equitable comparison can be made with the voting statistics for the previous election in 1931 for on that occasion there was no contest in four of the electorates —Waitomo, Bay of Plenty, Oroua and Pahiatua. The heavy polling was a notable feature of the election. An analysis of the figures shows there were 921,792 eligible voters on the rolls for the European seats, and that the valid votes cast for candidates contesting these constituencies numbered 827,723. The Maoris, who do not have a roll, exercised 24,833 votes. There were . 7110 informal votes recorded in 74 of the European electorates. The number of informal votes for the Central Otago and Bay of Islands electorates has not yet been reported to the chief electoral officer, Mr G. G. Hodgkins, by the returning officers for those two electorates. The figures show that a shade over 90.5 per cent, of the electors entitled to vote did so. The representation of the various parties in the House is not an accurate reflection of . the voting strength in the country. If the respective . strengths of parties were proportionate to the total votes cast the Labour Party would have approximately 38 seats instead of the 53 it now holds. On the other hand Nationalists would have 27 instead of 19, and the Democrats seven instead of none. Thirty-five candidates have been returned on a minority vote, 22 of whom are members of the Labour Party. Details of the votes cast, together with the proportional and actual strengths of parties, are as follows: — Seats on Votes Actual voting cast seats strength

Labour 392,317 53 38 National 285,819 19 27 Democrat 66,688 — 7 Country 21,048 2 2 Independents 67,257 4 2 Ratana 8,569 2) Communist 600 —) 2 Others 10,257 —) Total 852,555 80 80